Blue, Crimson Mix at Bright Tuesday Night

NEW HAVEN, Conn. -- The No. 5 Yale
men's hockey team (9-3-3, 5-1-2 ECAC), puts its five-game unbeaten
streak on the line with a 7 p.m. game at Harvard (2-10-2, 2-5-2) on
Tuesday.

blue VS. CRIMSON

Harvard has a 134-74-18 lead heading into the 227th
meeting, but Yale has won the last two. The Bulldogs, looking for a
second straight win at Harvard, are 4-35-3 in the 42 games played
at the Bright Center.

the crimson

Harvard, which beat Quinnipiac in its last
conference outing on Dec. 29, is coming off a pair of losses at
Minnesota last weekend. Michael Biega leads the team with 12 points
while Kyle Richter (.905, 3.54, 2-8-1) has had most of the time in
net.

LAST YEAR AGAINST HARVARD

The Bulldogs won 6-2 at the Bright Center before
taking the Ingalls game 5-1. Brian O'Neill had two goals at
Harvard, while Mike Matczak notched a pair at home. Billy Blase (32
saves) got the win in goal on the road, but Alec Richards (14) was
in net at New Haven.

RED LIGHT DISTRICT

The Elis, 7-1-1 since Thanksgiving Day week, have
44 goals in those nine games after tallying 19 times over the first
six contests of 2009-10. Yale has scored six goals or more in five
games this winter compared to four last year. Fifteen different
Bulldogs have lit the lamp to give Yale a 64-40 goal advantage.

HOLY HANOVER

Mark Arcobello scored twice while freshman goalie
Jeff Malcolm made 29 saves in a 4-2 Bulldogs win before 2,954 at
Thompson Arena on Sunday. A 1-0 Yale lead after two periods turned
into a wild, five-goal third period with 21 shots on target, four
Dartmouth man-advantages and 11 Malcolm saves. A 3-0 lead by the
visitors with nine minutes left suddenly became a one-goal contest
with players shuffling in and out of the penalty boxes. Arcobello
had the game's first goal and the eventual game-winner in the
third. Jeff Anderson and Brendan Mason, who had two points, had the
other two tallies.

Arcobello nets pair

Senior F Mark Arcobello (5-8-13) notched his first
mutiple-goal outing of 2008-09 Sunday at Dartmouth in a 4-2 win. He
scored his first collegiate shorthander to give the Blue a 1-0 lead
in the second period before tallying the winner in the third. He
was a 2008-09 second-team All-America pick after recording
17-18-35. He has 39 goals and 93 points in three-plus seasons. He
is second to Backman among active career leaders in goals and
assists (54).

On LINE

On a night when the Elis were outshot and and held
well below their average while scoreless with the man-advantage,
you would not expect a line with a combined 10 points on the year
to come up with four of them. The line of junior Brendan Mason,
junior Jeff Anderson and Charles Brockett (first point of the year)
did that Sunday.

Bulldog Bites

Yale has had 24 skaters suit up for games this year
and all four goalies... Senior G Billy Blase is president of Sigma
Nu (fraternity) and the founder and president of Yale's
Undergraduate Student Entertainment Society... Freshman F Antoine
Laganiere, whose brother is in his fourth year at the Yale Medical
School, is an accomplished piano player who also plays guitar...
Freshman G Nick Maricic started playing hockey on rollerblades in
Alta Loma, Calif... Freshman F Andrew Miller worked as a lacrosse
coach at Cranbrook Kingswood School in Michigan.

GEOGRAPHIC BALANCE

The Yale roster includes players from 12 different
states and three provinces. The most from a state is two
(California, Connecticut, Illinois and New Hampshire) while six
hail from Alberta, including a Calgary pair.

SHOOTERS

The Bulldogs have outshot opponents in 10 of the 15
games and are 8-1-1 in those outings. The Elis average 37 shots and
give up just over 27. In the third period alone, the Blue has a
71-shot advantage.

Powering Play

The Blue managed four PPG over the first six games
and were operating at just over 11 percent efficiency. The Elis
(20.7% for season) are 14-for-54 (25.9) in the last nine games.
Yale's best day on special teams was (4-for-8) at Holy Cross on
Nov. 28.

Lots of Little

Junior F Broc Little (15-20-35 last year) leads the
Elis with 11 goals. He has a point in all but three games and six
multiple-point outings this season. Little's .73 goals per game
average is sixth in Division I, while he has the second best GWG
(3) total and is 39th in points per game with 1.13. He led the
nation in SHG with five last winter.

O'NEILL ON TOP

Sophomore F Brian O'Neill, who has points in 11 of
15 games and had the tying goal in the OT draw in the Badger
Showdown title game, leads the team with 20 points. He had 2-1-3 in
the win over Sacred Heart on Nov. 24 and 1-2-3 vs. Ferris State.
O'Neill's 1.33 points per game are 13th in Division I. He made the
CHN (national) and ECAC Hockey All-Rookie teams after going
12-14-26 last winter.

Kearney PRODUCING

Junior F Denny Kearney (6-8-14), who has a point in
11 of 15 games, had two goals in the win over Quinnipiac. He is
second to Mark Arcobello (54) in active career assists with 44.
Kearney (Hanover, NH), who played in his hometown last Sunday at
Dartmouth, was in Colorado over the break to watch his sister,
Hannah, 2005 world champion, qualifiy for the 2010 Winter Olympics
in Vancouver as a mogul skier.

net mix

Four different Bulldogs have earned a win in net
this season. The Elis have two freshmen, a junior and senior
battling for the top job. Newcomers Nick Maricic (2.41, .909,
3-1-2) and Jeff Malcolm (2.01, .916, 4-1-0), junior Ryan Rondeau
(3.84, .880, 1-1-1) and senior Billy Blase (3 saves, 1-0-0) have
been in net. Rondeau has the top save night with 40 at Princeton,
while Malcolm gave up the fewest (1) goals in a 1-0 loss at UVM.
Maricic, the only Eli goalie who qualifies for the national
rankings, is 25th in GAA among Division I players and is 42nd in
save percentage. Maricic has the most (373) minutes played, Blase,
the only Eli with a collegiate shutout, has the fewest (12).

Backman MOVING UP

F Sean Backman (10-7-17) has 108 points in 108
career games and is fifth at Yale with 66 career goals. Backman,
who trails Mark Kaufmann (69) by three for the No. 4 spot, was
named to the College Hockey News (CHN) 2008-09 Pre-Season
All-America squad. Ding Palmer's 87 career goals between 1927-30
are a long way off. Backman has a point in 10 of 15 outings this
winter and is 15th in Division I with .67 goals per game. He was
second-team All-ECAC last year after leading his team with 20
goals. Backman tallied the team's lone hat trick of the year in a
5-0 win over Cornell that gave the Blue the ECAC Hockey Tournament
Title and made him tournament MVP.

DIGNARD DRIVING

Senior defenseman Tom Dignard (4-11-15) has 17
career goals, which is fourth on the school charts and a dozen shy
of the record set by Dave Baseggio (29-79-108) between 1985-89.
Dignard needs five goals to catch Darcy Ryan and Ray Giroux (22)
and tie for second. He is seventh among Yale blueliners in career
points with 62, five behind Bill Nichols (67). The current Bulldog
ranks No. 2 in the nation among blueliners with 1.25 points per
game.

Century Mark

Senior F Mark Arcobello has 112 career games
played. Most Eli seniors don't get a glimpse of triple digits until
late in their final campaigns. Teammates F Sean Backman (108) and D
Ryan Donald (104) recently followed Arcobello. All three could
break the record of 125 games shared by Jeff Hamilton ‘01 and
Jeff Hristovski ‘06.

Captain Ryan Donald

Ryan Donald (St. Albert, ALB), a class of 2010
defenseman, is the captain of the 2009-10 Bulldogs. The 6-foot-3,
220-pound Bulldog skater is one of 20 NCAA hockey candidates for
the 2009-10 Lowe's Senior CLASS Award. To be eligible for the
award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I
senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence -
classroom, character, community and competition. Donald has
compiled a 2.93 grade point average as a political science major at
one of the nation's top universities. He was recognized as a member
of the ECAC All-Academic team in 2009.

CARE TO COMPARE

The 2008-09 Bulldogs enjoyed the best season in the
history of Yale hockey after starting 10-5 overall with 47 goals.
The current Bulldogs have one less victory in their first 15 but
have hit the net 64 times. The Elis were 2-1 against nationally
ranked teams in the first 15 last year, they are 4-2-1 this season.

In the Polls

Yale moved from up one place from No. 6 on both the
USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine & USCHO.com lists this week.
Yale's No. 6 ranking in the USCHO poll the first week of November
had been the "highest" it had been listed this season. The Elis'
best ranking ever was No. 5 in both polls late March of 2009. The
Bulldogs are 2-0-2 against top 15 teams in the current USA Today
rankings and 3-2-2 vs. top 20 teams in the USCHO poll. Yale is
4-2-1 against ranked teams this season.

On the Bench

Keith Allain ‘80, Yale's Malcolm G. Chace
Head Coach of Hockey, has helped establish the Bulldogs on the
national scene since he joined the program three years ago. In
2008-09 he led Yale to the best season in the program's history. A
school-record 24 wins, Yale's first ECAC Tournament Championship
and a school-best No. 5 national ranking in late March backs up
that statement. The Elis' second ECAC regular-season title, a third
NCAA Tournament appearance and an Ivy League crown confirm the
status of the 2008-09 squad. He was honored by ECAC coaches as
conference coach of the year (Tim Taylor Award) and College Hockey
News named him national coach of the year. This is Allain's 11th
overall year at Yale; he spent four as a student-athlete and goalie
and three as an assistant coach in the 1980s.

Allain AFTER SUNDAY'S GAME

"It was a tough, hard-fought road victory. I was
very pleased with the play of our young goalie, who came up with
some big saves for us. The Mason-Brockett-Anderson line did a good
job of setting the tone for us. "It was their defensive play,
offense and physical play that made the difference. They had the
whole package tonight. As a group, they were very difficult to play
against."

OFFENSIVE SPREAD

The junior class has contributed 22 goals this
season, two more than the seniors. The sophomores are third with 13
while the newcomers have eight goals and 26 points.

Saturday is Ingalls Rink dedication day and
includes alumni day (and an alumni game at 9:45 AM). The official
dedication (invitation only) is 2:30, while Yale and Brown drop the
puck at 7:30. The dedication will also be recognized Saturday night
at the game. The rink has been modernized in many ways while adding
13,000 square feet of varsity operational space. The additions
include locker rooms and space for strength & conditioning,
student-athlete study area, medical & training, officials,
video, coaches, equipment, reception (Schley Room) and more. There
are new historical displays and concession stands and bathrooms.

BULLDOGS ON THE AIR

All Yale home games include live video and audio
streaming. All games from Ingalls can be seen live through Yale's
All Access on yalebulldogs.com. The audio is provided by WYBC
radio, and the broadcast can also be heard on either AM 1340 or on
wybc.com.

SKATE WITH THE BULLDOGS

The YUAD invites Yale hockey fans to an Ingalls
Rink open skate with the men's and women's teams from Noon to 1 on
Sunday, Feb. 7. Facility tours will also be available.